Daycare Centre, Dresdener Straße

A multi-storey car park stood vacant and was to be demolished. For the IBAIBA Internationale Bauausstellung Berlin, however, the reuse of existing resources was a central topic. Thus, instead of a new constructing, the building was repurposed and turned into a daycare centre.

The car park, built in 1974, was part of the previously built new Kreuzberg centre at Kotbusser Tor, a huge building complex intended to shield off a motorway through Berlin that was planned but never built. After completion, it was soon clear that not only was the complex far too large for the urban development context, the predicted utilisation was greatly overestimated: The car park was never used.

Instead of an expensive demolition and rebuilding, IBA-Altbau considered repurposing of the car park in accordance with its principles of cautious urban renewal. According to these principles, all existing building substance is valuable and has a right to existence and re-use. The result: The car park was converted into a daycare centre for 136 children. The three-storey steel frame construction comprising pre-fabricated concrete parts was turned into four main storeys and a rooftop garden, which is now used as a play area. The planners incorporated ecological principles in their renewal work. The glasshouse, a roofed courtyard, forms a buffer climate zone with solar energy storage system and the green façade ensure the exchange of air.

The reconstruction was cost-intensive and was completed in 1987. The project is one of the most spectacular conversion projects in the city.